Key Update

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has directed states to intensify inspections and enforce strict vigilance to curb the use of illegal ripening agents in fruits such as mangoes, bananas, and papayas. It has also warned that these practices can cause serious health issues, including difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, and skin ulcers.

Crackdown on Illegal Practices

FSSAI has identified that some Food Business Operators dip fruits in ethephon solutions to speed up ripening. It has reiterated, in its Guidance Note on Artificial Ripening of Fruits – Ethylene Gas: A Safe Fruit Ripener, that it strictly prohibits direct contact of fruits and vegetables with ethylene in powder or liquid form.

Based on this, FSSAI has instructed Commissioners of Food Safety across States and UTs, along with its Regional Directors, to intensify inspections and maintain strict monitoring across fruit markets, mandis, storage facilities, wholesalers, and distributors—especially in locations handling seasonal fruits where substances like “masala” may be used.

Enforcement and Legal Action

In the advisory issued by Dr Amit Sharma, FSSAI has called for special enforcement drives to stop the illegal use of calcium carbide and other non-permitted ripening agents, along with unauthorised wax and synthetic colours. It has been clarified that authorities can treat the presence of calcium carbide near fruit stocks as circumstantial evidence to initiate prosecution under relevant provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, including Section 59.

FSSAI has also advised enforcement officials to use strip paper tests to detect acetylene gas in godowns and ripening chambers. It has issued similar advisories earlier this year, reinforcing its ongoing efforts to ensure safe and compliant fruit ripening practices.

Source: The New Indian Express